Wire straightening and cutting machine.



N0. 70l,375. Patented lune 3, I902.

A. H. NILSDYN & m. OLSON.

WIRE STRAIGHTENING AND CUTTING MACHINE.

(Application filed July 17, 19014) I (No Model.) 2 Sheet5-$heet I.

WITNESSES.

m: "cams pz'rzns co.v Mom-1.11140" WASHINGTON. a. c.

Patented June 3, I902.

A. H. NILSUN & M. OLSON.

lWlRE STRAIGHTENING AND CUTTING MACHINE.

(Application filed July 17, 1901.)

2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

HHIJHI INVENTORS WlTNESSES.

THE norms Perms do. vnom-ummmsmwaron, u. c.

UNITED STATES AXEL H. NILSON AND MAURITZ OLSON, OF BRIDGEPORT,CONNECTICUT ASSIGNORS TO THE A. H. NILSON MACHINE COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORTPATENT OFFIoE.

CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

WIRE STRAIGHTENING AND C UTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 701,375, dated June 3,1902.

Application filed July 17, 1901. Serial No. 68,642. (No model.)

To [tZZ whont it magnum Germ:

Be it known that we, AXEL H. N ILSON and MAURITZ OLSON, citizens of theUnited States,

residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new and useful Wire Straightening and Cutting Machine, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Our invention has for its object to provide a simple, durable,easily-adjusted, quick-perating, and relatively inexpensive machine forstraightening all sizes of wire within. the capacity of the machine andfor cutting it into such lengths as may be required.

With these ends in View we have devised the novel straightening. andcutting machine of which the following description, in connection withthe accompanying drawings, is a specification, reference charactersbeing used to designate theseveral parts.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of our novel machine complete except thatthe friction device is removed; Fig. 2, an end elevation as seen fromthe right in Fig. 1, the clutch-operating mechanism being omitted forthe sake of clearness; Fig. 3, a detail sectional view,on an enlargedscale, illustrating the cutting and releasing mechanism; Fig. 4, adetail plan view to be considered in connection with Fig. 3 andillustrating the guide-plates in the closed position; Fig. 5, a sectionon the line 5 5 in Fig. 4; Fig. 6, a detail sectional view on the samescale illustrating a clutch for connecting the shaft with the fly-wheel;Fig. 7, a detail view of the clutch-operating lever; Fig. 8, a detailview, on the same scale, showing the outer end of the guide-plates andalso illustrating the stop which determines the length of the wireblanks, and Fig. 9 is a detail view to be considered in connection withFig. 8 and showing in side elevation the guide-plate that carries theclutch-operating mechanism and also showing the stop device and itsconnection with the clutch-operating mechanism.

denotes the base of the machine, which may be. of any ordinary orpreferred design;

21, an end piece; 22, receivers for wire blanks,

and 23 a support, in the present instance a tube, by which any requirednumber of receivers may be carried, depending, of course, upon thelength of wire blanks to be out. The inner end of the support engagesthe base in any suitable manner and the outer end rests in the endpiece. The receivers are shown as secured to the support by means ofclamps 24;.

The Wire to be operated upon-21 c. straightened and cut intoblanks-passes into the machine at the left, as seen in Fig. 1, firstpass ing through a guide 25, then through a rotary straightener 26, towhich power is applied by means of a belt (not shown) passing over abelt-pulley 27. In -view of the fact that this straightener may be ofany ordinary or preferred construction, the special details thereofbeing wholly unimportant so far as our present invention is concerned,we have not deemed it necessary to illustrate the straightener indetail. The wire is drawn into the machine by means of drawing rollers28, which are suitably geared together, the gearing not being shown'inthe drawings, and are driven by means of a belt (not shown) passing overa belt-pulley 29. v

denotes one of the usual adj usting-screws for regulating the pressureof the drawingrollers.

Immediately in front of the drawing-rollers is the cutting mechanism,which comprises, essentially, a tube 31, which is rigidly secured in thebase and through which the wire passes, and a cutter 32, carried by aplunger 33, and closely engaging the outer face of tube 31, as clearlyshown in Fig. 3. The plunger reciprocates in a suitable standard 34,which is cast integral with or rigidly secured to the base. At the upperend of the plunger is a cross-head '35, carrying a box 36, in which isjournaled an eccentric 37 on a shaft 38, itself the standard.

denotes a fly-wheel which is loose on shaft 38 and which receives powerby means journaled in boxes 39 upon of a belt (not shown) passing overthe flywheel itself. The fly-wheel is connected to and disconnected fromthe shaft by means of a clutch, (see Fig. 6,) which as a whole 5 wedesignate as A. We shall presently give a brief description of theoperation of this clutch, but wish to make clear that our invention isnot limited to any special form of clutch mechanism. It should beunderstood to that in use fiy-wheel is always running,

but the shaft is normally disconnected therefrom, with the cutter in theraised position, as in Fig. 3.

The wire after passing through tube 31 I 5 passes between guide-plates41, which are normally held in the closed position, as in Fig. 4, andare provided in their contiguous edges with grooves 42, which togetherform a receiving-socket. As these plates merely 2o serve asguide-plates, the wire having been straightened before passing into thesocket formed by the grooves, it is not required that the wire fit thesocket closely, a single pair of guide-plates therefore serving for allsizes 2 5 of wire within the capacity of the machine. These guide-plates(see Figs. 1, 2, and 4) rest upon and are supported by the heads ofstuds 44, which pass upward through oblique slots 43 in the guide-platesand engage arms 46. The arms 46 are shown as formed in tegral withcertain of the blank-receivers 22, as clearly shown in the drawings, itbeing unnecessary to attach the guide-plates to all the receivers andunimportant to how many 35 receivers the guide-plates may be attached,so long as they are firmly held in place, but in such a manner as topermit them to move freely. The guide-plates are opened and closedsimultaneously with the movement of the plunger, in the manner which wewill now describe.

47 denotes a lever pivoted in any suitable manner to standard 34. In thepresent instance we have shown the lever as pivoted to 45 ears 48,bolted to the standard. The upper end of the lever is provided with across-pin 49, and the corresponding end of the crosshead is providedwith a slot 50, which receives the upper end of the lever, and withcorresponding oblique slots 51, which receive the ends of the cross-pin.The lower end of the lever engages the guide-plates in any suitablemanner. We have shown the lower end of the lever as provided with a head52 and 5 5 the guide-plates as provided with corresponding socket-plates53, which receive the head of the lever, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. Itwill be obvious, therefore, that when the plunger, cross-head, andcutter are at the raised position, as in Fig. 3, the guide-plates willbe at the closed position, as in Figs. 4 and 5, and that when theplunger moves downward, as in cutting ed a wire blank, the action of thelever through its engagement with i the socket-plates must be to movethe guideplates forward, and that through the engagement of studs 44with the walls of oblique slots 43 the guide-plates will be moved fromthe closed position, as in Fig. 4, to the open position, as in Fig. 8,which permits a severed wire blank to drop down into the receivers. Theopening of the guide-plates and the cutting off of a blank take placeduring the first half-revolution of the shaft. The last half of therevolution of the shaft closes the guideplates and returns the cutter tothe raised position, as will be more fully explained.

As a means of determining the length of the blanks we provide a stop 54,which lies in the socket formed by the grooves in the edges of theguide-plates, the stop being preferably made large enough to practicallyfill the socket, so as to render it impossible for a fine wire to passit. In order to prevent the stop from dropping outwhen the guide-platesare opened, as in Fig. 8, we secure the stop loosely to one of theguide-plates in any suitable manner, as by bands of wire 55, which passaround the stop and the guide-plate, as clearly shown in Fig. 8, butloosely enough to leave the stop free to be moved longitudinally. Thisstop is simply a piece of wire and extends outward beyond theguide-plate as far as may be required to provide for cutting difierentlengths of blanks.

' 56 denotes a guide carried by the guide-plate that carries the stopand through which the stop passes, and 57 a block adjustably secured tothe stop in any suitable manner, as byasetscrew 58. In use the wire thatis being op- I03 erated upon engages the stop and forces it forwarduntil the movement is stopped by engagement of the block with the guide.A spring 59, connected to this block and to a fixed portion of themachine, as to one of the arms 46, acts to normally hold the block inengagement with the end of the guide-plate which carries it, as in Fig.8. We have shown the spring as attached to a stud 60, extend ing upwardfrom the block.

61 denotes a connection, preferably a wire, extending from the block orthe stud, as most convenient, to the clutch.

In order that the operation of the machine may be clearly understood, wewill describe briefly the well-known form of clutch illustrated in Fig.6, although it should be understood that any ordinary or preferred formof clutch may be used and that specifically the clutch forms no portionof our present inven tion.

The fiy-wheel 40, which, as already stated, is loose on shaft 38, isprovided with a hub 62, having a socket 63. (See Fig. 6.) The shaft isprovided with a groove 64 and with a collar 65, which lies in contactwith the hub of the fiy-wheel.

66 denotes a sliding key which lies in the groove and ma correspondingsocket 67 in the collar and is adapted to be moved forthe sliding key asnormally forced toward the locking position by a spring 68 and asprovided with a transverse groove 69, which is adapted to be engaged bya wedge on a clutch-lever 71, which is pivoted to the crosshead. (Seedotted lines, Fig. 1, in connection with Fig. 7.) Wire 61, which extendsto block 57 on thestop, is connected to the long.

arm of the starting-lever. It will be understood, therefore, that whenthis connection is pulled by movement of the stop and block, caused byengagement of the wire that is being operated upon with the stop, thestarting-lever will be oscillated and wedge 70 will be lifted out ofgroove 69. Spring 68 will then force the sliding key forward and causeit to engage socket 63 in the hub of the flywheel, so that the motion ofthe fly-wheel will be communicated to the shaft. Rotation of the shaftcauses the cutter to move downward and cut off the blank that is lyingbetween the guide-plates, and simultaneously lever 47 will have openedthe guide-plates, as in Fig. 8, so that as soon as a blank is cut off itwill drop down into the receiver. As the rotation of the shaftapproaches completion, wedge '70 will again enter groove 69 in thesliding key and will draw the key outward, as in Fig. 6. A suitablefriction device (indicated as a whole by B) is provided, whichpreventsthe shaft from acquiring any momentum, so that the instantthesliding key is withdrawn from socket 63, which will be at the completionof a revolution of the shaft, theshaft will stop, leaving the cutter atthe raised position, as in Fig. 3, and the guideplates closed, as inFig. 4..

The operation of the machine as a whole will, it is thought, he clearlyunderstood from the drawings. We will, however, describe it briefly. Thewire to be operated upon is drawn into the machine by drawing-rollers 2Sand is straightened by the rotary straightener. As the cutter isnormally held at the raised position, the wire passes freely throughtube 31 and into the socket formed by the slots in the edges ofguide-plates 41. The length of the blanks to be cut is determined by theadjustment of stop 5%. As the wire is fed forward it will engage thestop and carry the latter forward against the power of spring 59 untilstopped by engagement of block 57 with guide 56, thereby operatingclutch-lever 71 in the manner'described, connecting the shaft with thefly-wheel, causing an actuation of the cutter and an opening and closingof the guide-plates, the clutch operating automatically to disconnectthe shaft from the flywheel at the end of the revolution.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. In a machine of thecharacterdescribed,

the combination with independently-operated feeding and cutter-operatingmechanisms, a cu'tter,and horizontally-movable guideplates, of a stop, aclutch, and a connection between the stop and the clutch, the partsbeing so combined and arranged that when the stop is engaged by the wireconnection will be made with the cutter-operating mechanism, a blankwill be severed and released, and the guide-plate and cutter will bereturned to their normal position and the cutter-operating mechanismdisconnected.

2. The combination with guide-plates having groovesin their contiguousedges which together form a receiving-socket, of means for opening andclosing the guide-plates so that blanks may drop out.

3. The combination with guide-plates having grooves in theircontiguousedges and oblique slots 43, of studs 4:41: which pass throughthe slots anda lever engaging the guide-plates and acting in connectionwith the studs and slots to open and close the guide-plates.

4:. The combination with guide-plates having grooves in their contiguousedges which together form a receiving-socket, of a stop for the wireadapted to lie within the socket, a cutter and means for opening theguideplates to permit severed blanks to drop out.

5. The combination with guide-plates having grooves in their contiguousedges which together form a receiving-socket, of an adjustable stop fordetermining the length of blanks, means for loosely connecting said stopto one of the guide plates, a cutter and means for opening and closingthe guideplates.

6. The combination with guide-plates having grooves in their contiguousedges which together form a receiving-socket, of an adjustable stopcarried by one of the guideplates, a cutter, means for opening andclosing the guide-plates and receivers into which the blanks drop whenthe guide-plates are opened.

7. The combination with guide-plates having grooves in their contiguousedges which together forma receiving-socket, means for opening andclosing the guide-plates and an adjustable stop adapted to lie in thesocket, of feeding and driving mechanisms, a cutter, a clutch and aconnection between the stop and the clutch, whereby when the stop isengaged by the wire the cutter is actuated and the guide-plates causedto release the severed blank.

8. The combination with drawing-rollers and a cutter, of guide-plateshaving grooves in their contiguous edges to receive the wire, means foropening and closing the guideplates, a stop carried by one of the guide-.plates and intermediate connections whereby when the stop is engaged bythe wire the cut- L ter and guide-plates are actuated.

9. The combination with feeding and drivwire connection will be madewith the driving mechanisms, guide-plates having grooves ing mechanismand the plunger reeiprocated. in their contiguous edges and a stopcarried In testimony whereof we affix our signaby one of theguide-plates, of a plunger cartures in presence of two witnesses.

'5 rying a cutter and a cross head having g T oblique slots, a leverpivoted to the plunger and engaging the guide-plates and having a J J Lcross-pin engaging the oblique slots, a clutch \Vitnesses: and aconnection between the clutch and the A. M. WOOSTER, 1 0 stop, so thatwhen the latter is engaged by the S. W. ATHERTON.

